Blog categories
NCFL Image
Nov 21, 2022 I
  No Comments

Tips for creating a welcoming environment in your classroom

Helping families and children feel comfortable in the classroom starts with intentional steps taken by educators. As we continue to celebrate National Family Literacy Month®, today we're ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Nov 1, 2022 I
  No Comments

Celebrate National Family Literacy Day – All month long

A father talks to his teen about healthy food choices at the grocery store. A grandmother reads with her grandchild while they wait for an appointment. An older child teaches their younger sibling to ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Sep 18, 2022 I
  1 Comment

Four ways to celebrate Adult Education and Family Literacy Week

September 18-24 is Adult Education and Family Literacy Week, and NCFL is joining our partners in the field to celebrate and bring awareness to the importance of family learning.  According to ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Nov 16, 2021 I
  No Comments

Family engagement is the key to Kentucky’s long-term education and workforce success

This blog post is authored by NCFL's President, Dr. Felicia Cumings Smith in honor of Kentucky Family Engagement in Education Week. Click here to read about activities happening across the ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Nov 27, 2020 I
  No Comments

Thank you for learning with NCFL this year

On this final Family Literacy Friday, the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) wants to thank you for reading, learning, wondering, and growing with us this year. While 2020 presented many ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Nov 20, 2020 I
  No Comments

Join NCFL today for reading strategies webinar

On this Family Literacy Friday, uncover reading strategies applicable from the classroom to the home. Join NCFL Reading Specialist Dr. Becky Goetzinger for this free webinar, which starts at 2 p.m. ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Nov 13, 2020 I
  No Comments

Develop reading and writing skills this month

Each Friday throughout National Family Literacy Month®, the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) is sharing resources and information to promote families learning together; we call it ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Nov 6, 2020 I
  No Comments

Try these free learning resources during National Family Literacy Month®

National Family Literacy Month offers an opportunity for educators to emphasize the important role that families play in the education of their children. This month join the National Center for ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Nov 1, 2020 I
  No Comments

November is National Family Literacy Month®

Over the past several decades, researchers across the country have recognized the strong correlation between parents’ and caregivers’ educational attainment and children’s educational outcomes. ...  Read more »

NCFL Image
Nov 29, 2019 I
  No Comments

Family Literacy Friday: Stories of inspiration

Though we all encounter challenges in life, some face hurdles seemingly impassable. In time, these roadblocks can come to define us if we never receive an invitation to take the first step. Across ...  Read more »

NCFL Partners

NCFL Image
NCFL Image
NCFL Image
NCFL Image
NCFL Image
NCFL Image

Toyota

Toyota, one of the nation's most successful corporations, began a partnership with NCFL in 1991. In addition to a commitment of more than $50 million, Toyota has also contributed a wealth of in-kind support — including advertising, planning and management expertise — to form one of the most progressive corporate/nonprofit partnerships in the nation.

Three major programs have been developed through the Toyota partnership based on the family literacy model of parents and children learning together. These models have influenced federal and state legislation, leveraged local dollars to support family literacy and led to successful programs being replicated across the country.

Read more about Toyota's commitment to communities

William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust

NCFL received its very first donation in 1989 from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust to promote and implement family literacy programming, first in Kentucky and North Carolina and later nationwide. The Kenan Family Literacy Model in part laid the groundwork for 30 years of subsequent family literacy and family learning programming developed by NCFL.

Kenan has continued to support NCFL’s place-based family literacy programs since our inception. Most recently, it has invested in our organization’s Sharon Darling Innovation Fund, which will launch emerging ideas and programmatic evolutions in the multigenerational learning space.

Learn more about the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust

Dollar General Literacy Foundation

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation began partnering with NCFL in 2006. A signature effort of this partnership is the National Literacy Directory, a resource that launched in 2010 and strives to guide potential students and volunteers to literacy services, community education programs, and testing centers in their communities.

The National Literacy Directory contains over 10,000 educational agencies located across the United States and has a dedicated toll-free number to help support those wanting to pursue educational opportunities in their communities.

Dollar General also provides support for development of NCFL’s innovative family learning resources centered on financial literacy and Parent and Child Together (PACT) Time®.

Learn more about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation

PNC Grow Up Great

PNC Grow Up Great believes deeply in the power of high-quality early childhood education and provides innovative opportunities that assist families, educators and community organizations to enhance children's learning and development.

PNC Grow Up Great has partnered with NCFL since 1994, most recently in Louisville, Kentucky, to support Say & Play with Words, our pre-Kindergarten vocabulary-building initiative.

NCFL's work is also featured on the PNC Grow Up Great Lesson Center website. The Lesson Center includes over 100 free, high-quality preschool lesson plans and research-based instructional techniques and strategies. All lesson plans contain Home/School Connections printouts, in English and Spanish, to help families extend and reinforce the learning at home.

Learn more about PNC Grow Up Great

U.S. Department of Education

Initiated through the U.S. Department of Education in 2018, the Statewide Family Engagement Centers (SFEC) program provides 12 grantees and 13 states with five-year, $5 million grants to promote and implement systemic evidenced-based family engagement strategies. NCFL was selected to lead SFECs in two states, Arizona and Nebraska, and is a primary partner for two other SFECs in Kentucky and Maryland/Pennsylvania. 

The SFECs work to support family engagement through state- and local-level agencies while providing both professional development to school districts and direct services to families related to children’s academic outcomes and overall well-being.

Learn more about the U.S. Department of Education

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

NCFL was named a recipient of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s "Voices for Economic Opportunity Grand Challenge," which seeks to elevate diverse voices in order to broaden the conversation about the issues inhibiting economic mobility and generate deeper awareness along with actionable understanding. NCFL will develop and launch a podcast series that will highlight the remarkable stories of low-income, diverse families across the U.S. who have improved their communities through Family Service Learning.

Foundation Website